State of the art in gluten-free research

Celiac disease (CD) is widespread and is often under diagnosed. It can affect a variety of genetically susceptible people from the young to the old. Presently, the only treatment for celiac patients is lifelong avoidance of any food, drink, sauce, or dressing containing gluten. Scientists and technologists continue in their quest to improve the quality of gluten-free products. Their main goal is to create a product of a similar standard to the gluten-containing products, currently on the market. However, the quality of these products still tends to be poor. Bread products have a low volume, pale crust, crumbly texture, bland flavor and a high rate of staling. Other gluten-free products contain minimal nutrition and substandard product characteristics, for example, pasta having an inferior texture, sauces which separate more easily. The main focus of this review is to discuss the most recent advances in gluten-free research which have arisen between the years 2011 and 2013. In particular, the manuscript focuses on ingredients and processing methods which have been documented to develop or improve the processing characteristics and nutritional properties of gluten-free products.